by Jodi Redford
“Totally understand.”
A man who was easily the size of a refrigerator strode past their table. “Five-second warning—I’m opening the doors.”
“That’s Lewis, the bouncer,” Marissa whispered, apparently intuiting the source for Charlie’s jaw drop. “He’s not nearly as scary as he looks. Kind of a big teddy bear.”
One that could probably bench press a Mack truck. Charlie tore her gaze from the entry when Grady squeezed her shoulder. He dropped a kiss on the crown of her head. “I’ll see you soon.”
The sparkle in his eyes left her a little dizzy with anticipation. “Break a leg.” She winced as Grady and Trig ambled toward the far hallway. “That’s probably not the best thing to say to a dancer.”
Marissa chuckled. “Oh, that’s nothing. You should hear some of the brilliant lines that come out of my mouth.”
A loud cheer came from behind her and Charlie jumped. “What the hell was that?”
“Buckle in tight. The Kraken has been released.”
In the next instant, a massive swarm of women descended on the room. Within seconds, nearly every seat was filled, including the vacant ones at Charlie and Marissa’s table. They were immediately swept up into the boisterous chatter and excitement. Clearly, there was no such thing as a stranger with these gals, no matter if they didn’t know you from Adam. It was completely overwhelming, but Charlie couldn’t help feeling like she’d just been accepted into the world’s greatest tribe.
The lights dimmed and the walls of the building practically shook from the clapping and feet stomping surrounding Charlie. She half expected the ladies to break out a stadium wave at any second. “This is nuts.”
Marissa’s eyes watered from her own laughter. “Welcome to the grown woman’s version of Disneyland.”
“Look at all the sexy bitches in the house,” the DJ boomed. His greeting succeeded in raising the cacophony to a deafening level. “Are you ready to get your panties wet courtesy of the hottest hunks in the industry?”
Well, her panties were already well on their way to Soaksville thanks to a certain hunk’s decadent kisses. The curtain lifted and ten dancers swaggered onto the stage amid the dramatic opening chords of the Macklemore number and screams of the ladies. Charlie’s attention immediately fused to Grady and her pulse skipped several beats. It was impossible not to be transfixed by him. Okay, possibly she was biased, but he was absolutely the most gorgeous and irresistible man up there. And the way those hips of his moved? They should be classified as weapons of mass destruction. Both on stage and in the bedroom.
He looked across the crowd and caught her eye. The connection bulleted between them with enough sizzle and spark to set the whole place on fire. Each dancer performed his solo and she waited breathlessly for Grady’s turn. His routine was different from the one at the shoot. No floor humping whatsoever. She wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or relieved. Probably the last option was safer. God knows if he’d busted out that move she would have combusted on the spot.
A brief pause followed the opener. Before the crowd had too long to grow restless, the DJ came back on and announced Kinky Claus’s arrival. She slid a glance toward Marissa as Clarence Carter’s Back Door Santa wailed through the speakers. Her new friend gave a wolf whistle that could easily be heard the next county over. “Save a reindeer, ride a Santa!”
Charlie nearly died on the spot. Tears of laughter streaming down her cheeks, she joined in with Marissa’s chorus of, “Woot woot!”
Midway through Kinky Claus’s routine, Frank carried a chair up onto the stage and waited for Trig to take a seat before jogging down the steps and bee-lining in the direction of their table. Marissa sighed. “I won’t blame you in the least if you have zero respect for me after this.”
“That good, huh?” Giggling, Charlie eagerly wiggled forward in her seat while Frank escorted Marissa up onto the stage.
The next several minutes were a sexy and hilarious raunchfest involving a blowjob demonstration using an enormous candy cane. At the end of it, Trig hauled Marissa face down across his lap and spanked her with his big stick. Charlie added her shouts of encouragement along with the rest of the audience.
Red-faced and vigorously rubbing her backside, Marissa returned to the table after the performance. Charlie offered her a high five. “That was amazing.”
“That’s what he said.”
They both dissolved into a giggle fit. Charlie wiped her eyes. “I’m so glad I came tonight. This is some of the best fun I’ve ever had.”
Marissa scooted closer to her, presumably in order to be heard above the noisy din. “How long have you and Grady been seeing each other?”
“Well, technically a year. But we only met face-to-face a few days ago.”
Curiosity gleaming in her eyes, Marissa rested her elbow on the edge of the table and plopped her chin in her hand. “Internet dating?”
“Not exactly.” She cleared her throat. The hell with it. Marissa just had her ass spanked with a freakin’ candy cane. What were the odds she’d be a JudgyMcjudgy pants? Not too likely. “I’m a phone sex operator.”
Marissa’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, that’s so cool.”
Charlie chuckled. “I’m fairly sure you’re the first person to describe my job using that term.”
“I only speak the truth.” Marissa twitched her nose. “It’s certainly way cooler than my job.”
“What do you do?”
“I work for an insurance agency. And yes, it’s exactly as boring as it sounds.”
Charlie gave Marissa a commiserating pat on the hand. “But you got to deep throat a candy cane. That’s pretty damn special.”
“True. I’m living the dream, really.”
The DJ announced the next act and Charlie immediately straightened in her seat. The unmistakable opening of Talk Dirty queued up and she blinked. She slid her gaze to Marissa. “This is Grady’s song?”
“Not usually. Something tells me you’re inspiring his musical muse tonight,” Marissa offered with a wink.
The curtain whooshed upward and a chant erupted from the crowd. “Grinder! Grinder! Grinder!”
Grady sauntered forward, a walking lady boner in his snug white tank top and black pants with matching suspenders. He looked utterly lickable. Without so much as a break in his stride, he loped down the stairway and headed in Charlie’s direction. The determined glint in his eyes left no doubt to his intention.
Gulping, Charlie peered over her shoulder at the beckoning exit. Marissa nudged her with her elbow. “Don’t even think about it. If I had to get spanked with a candy cane, you’re just going to have to endure whatever he has in store for you.”
She swallowed hard. He stopped in front of her and held out his hand. She shook her head and he flashed his teeth in a wolfish smile. Oh no. That didn’t bode well. He leaned over and picked her up, chair and all. Her new tribe began cheering, the traitors. He retraced his steps and plunked her down at the edge of the stage before vaulting up to join her with all the effortless grace of a sleek panther.
Good God, he is a damn Thundercat.
He scooted the chair closer to the center of the stage and unhooked his suspenders. Wickedness positively oozed from him as he gathered one end of the dangling straps in his fist. Dropping to one knee in front of her, he took her left arm in his free hand and pinned it against the side of the chair.
No, he wouldn’t dare...
Aw, hell. Yes, he would. He put all sliver of a doubt to rest as he tied her in place. The audience was going absolutely nuts. Oh sure, easy for them to be enjoying this when they weren’t the ones trussed to a damn chair.
Oh, who was she kidding? She completely loved it too. Especially when Grady straightened and slowly inched his shirt up along his torso. The only time his gaze left hers was the brief moment it took him to tug the garment over his head. He tossed the tank top aside and straddled her lap. Not being able to touch him? The cruelest punishment ever. He tunneled his finger
s through her hair and then leaned down to kiss her. It was no stage kiss either. But a full-on annihilation of her senses via his lips, teeth, and tongue. Just when she thought she’d liquefied enough to be able to slip from her bindings in a mindless puddle he snaked his body down the length of hers. Undulating with the music, he licked and nibbled his way along her cleavage, pausing to bite her nipple through the fabric of her bra and blouse. She whimpered. Did that stop the evil bastard? Of course not.
He lowered onto haunches and spread her legs wide. Thank God she was wearing capris and not the skirt she’d originally considered this morning. Otherwise, the entire audience would be getting an eyeful and then some. He kissed the inside of her thighs. With the way he was positioned, she had a good inkling what his next destination would be. Judging from the ribald catcalls from the ladies, they shared the same theory as her.
Grady’s sliding kiss cruised all the way up to her crotch and he buried his face between her legs. Good thing he had a grip on the chair, seeing how she jolted hard enough to upright it. He bit and sucked her pussy through the cotton, making her head spin. His previous statement flashed through her brain. “—everything I do there is only an act. None of it is real. But tonight—with you—it will be.”
She trembled, his mouth and the seduction of his words searing her nerve endings. He loosened the suspenders and slipped her wrists free before lifting her from the chair. It was a damn good thing he didn’t require her to stand on her own two feet because her shaky legs were clearly having none of that nonsense. He spread her out on the floor of the stage and flattened himself over her. She knew what was coming. Even so, nothing could have prepared her for the mind-blowing sensation of his body gyrating fluidly above her, rocking her to a timeless rhythm that felt anything but simulated.
The frenzied cheering of the audience faded into the background as Grady’s tongue glided inside her mouth. There was no one else in the room right then. Just she and Grady lost in sensual oblivion. Or at least that’s how her dazed brain perceived the moment.
It took a second to realize the music had ended. If not for the DJ’s hilarious suggestion that they get a room, she and Grady might not have snapped to their senses. She was infinitely grateful for the befuddled look on his face, confirming that she at least wasn’t the only one who’d gotten a little too wrapped up in the moment and completely forgotten where they were. He scooped her up onto her feet—thankfully she managed to stay upright this time—and tugged her toward the curtain. Once they were securely out of view of the audience, he pressed her up against the wall and resumed the brain-frying kiss. She was dimly aware of motion out on the stage as they readied for the next performance but none of it remotely interested her as Grady’s mouth continued to wreak havoc on her system.
He finally let her up for air and she slumped against the drywall. Not sliding down onto her ass was a miracle in and of itself. “I...um...yeah. You definitely made it good.”
“That was only an appetizer.”
“And when exactly can we get to the main course? Because I desperately need you to fuck my brains out.” To hell with subtlety. He’d just disintegrated her panties. She was past the point of beating around the bush.
The smokiness of his gaze intensified. “Depends on how adventurous you are. I have forty minutes until my next set.”
She licked her lips. “I can easily have a dozen orgasms in that amount of time.”
Cursing under his breath, he dragged her toward the hallway. They passed the dressing room—which from the sound of it, seemed to still be a noisy hub of activity—and several more rooms that appeared to be offices of some sort. Grady opened the last door on the right and hauled her inside...a broom closet.
Hell, she didn’t even give a hot damn. That’s how, well, hot she was. She tore at Grady’s pants and they magically ripped away in her hands. It took her a second to remember he was wearing his stripper gear. Corking her laugh, she tossed the garment down. “How is it you still had those on?”
“I forgot to take them off during the act.” He bit her neck. “Jesus, see what dry humping you does to my focus?”
“Well, now you can do it for real, and it definitely won’t be dry.”
He unbuttoned her capris and slid his hand inside her panties. “Fuck.”
“Mm. Yes. Please. Now.” She wiggled from her capris and hiked down her bikini bottoms.
Grady dropped to his knees in front of her. “Need to taste you. Bad.” He crooked her left leg over his shoulder and settled in for the feast. The sucking pulls of his lips and tongue making her dizzy, she gripped his head, holding on for dear life. McHorny’s sinful hips weren’t his only weapon of mass destruction. His mouth was going to be the death of her.
He sucked her clit between his teeth and pulsed it repeatedly with his tongue. Already primed past the point of detonation, she cried out, her entire body shaking from the blunt force of her climax. He continued lapping at her through the aftershocks before pulling his head away and licking his lips. “You are too fucking delicious.”
Blindly reaching out with one hand, he snagged his pants and fumbled to extract something from his pocket. A second later he yanked out a condom. He glanced up and caught her stare. “I don’t usually carry one with me on stage, but right now, I’m hella glad I did this time.”
“You and me both.” She bit her lip as he tugged down his G-string, revealing the long, scrumptiously thick column of his cock. He snapped the rubber in place and scooted her toward a stack of cartons in the far corner of the closet. She propped her butt on the top box and he slid one hand to her hip as he positioned the fat head of his cock. With a breath-stealing thrust, he impaled her to the hilt. She clutched his shoulders.
“Too much?” He exhaled in relief when she shook her head. “Thank Christ, because I don’t know if I can hold back any longer.”
“I don’t want you to.” She hugged her arms around him and sucked his earlobe. “So give me all you’ve got, McHorny.”
His hands moved to her butt and squeezed each cheek as he hammered into her with deep, gliding strokes. Each powerful pump of his hips seemed to lodge him that much closer to her heart, both literally and figuratively. She scraped her nails down his back, luxuriating in the silken shift of his muscles. Everything about this was insane. Giving herself to Grady in a broom closet—it was decadent, liberating, and absolutely...perfect. He looked into her eyes and she saw wonderment there. He felt it too.
He pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m crazy in love with you, Charlie. Is it completely tacky to confess that while I’m balls-deep in you in a broom closet?”
His words sent happiness soaring in her heart. “If it is, then I’m just as tacky, because I’m completely, utterly, madly in love with you too.”
He kissed her then, with so much sweet tenderness, it brought tears to her eyes. He eased back and cupped her face. “You’re right.”
“About me loving you? Well, duh, you silly man. I’d suspected it for a while now.”
He shook his head. “Not that. About everything happening for a reason. We were meant to pull each other out of the darkness.”
She nuzzled his lips. “Welcome to the light, McHorny.”
“You too, sweetheart.” A lifetime of happiness shone on his face. She suspected hers held that same glow. Maybe it was the light finally shining through. Regardless, it was pointing to the brightest future ever.
EPILOGUE
Grady stepped back and eyeballed the angle of the bookshelf he’d installed above Charlie’s desk. “Not bad for an amateur carpenter.” Nodding, he set down his hammer and stacked the workbooks on top of their new home. The collection was growing, thanks to Charlie’s unwavering patience. At this rate, he was going to fly through his lessons in no time. His reading and writing skills were nowhere near gold star level, but every day he was improving. When the time came for them to shoot their special episode for Passion’s Diary next month, he’d more than be able to read his own line
s without any guidance from anyone. Even more amazing than that, his anxiety had leveled off dramatically. There were no more undesired head trip visits from his dad. He suspected that had everything to do with Charlie. She’d been right about them being able to defeat their demons together. She’d completely blossomed over the last month and owned her sex goddess status like the queen she was.
Speaking of his queen...
He strode toward their bedroom. The ensuite bath door was still shut. “What are you doing? Homesteading the john?”
“I’ll be out in a sec.”
“You said that half an hour ago.”
“Har-har. Don’t you have something better to do than pester me?”
“Nope.” He leaned his shoulder against the door frame. “I finished putting up the bookshelf and now I’m bored. Entertain me.”
Her sigh echoed on the other side of the wall. “Well, if you insist.”
The handle jiggled and the door swung open. His jaw dropped to the floor. Charlie sashayed into the bedroom, wearing the craziest sexy getup in all creation. A furry unicorn hood topped her head, complete with the requisite horn. Matching leg warmers, a tail, and the rainbow-hued swimsuit they’d spotted in the shop window last month completed the outfit.
She pranced around him, shaking her booty and making her tail swish. Stopping directly in front of him, she backed into his groin and proceeded to grind him with her money maker. He went to full mast in zero seconds flat. Growling, he picked her up and carried her to the bed amid her naughty giggles. He tossed her onto the mattress and pounced on top of her. She gasped as he bit the side of her neck. “Ooh, ravage me, Thundercat!”
Grinning, he untied the swimsuit and flung it to the carpet. He plumped her full, gorgeous tits with his palms and lowered his head to suck their stiffened peaks. Each swirl of his tongue dragged a moan from her that in turn decreased the available real estate in his cramped briefs. He pushed up from her and unbuttoned his jeans. Unwilling to be a mere spectator, his sexy unicorn planted her palms against his chest. Taking the hint, he rolled onto his back and tugged his T-shirt up over his head while she worked at freeing him of the rest of his clothing. Once he was completely nude, she wiggled down his body and stroked his cock. Holding his gaze, she licked the underside of his shaft, following the main vein all the way up to his swollen head. She traced the circumference of the cap with the tip of her tongue and moved inward to the slit already weeping pre-come. She lapped up the clear fluid, her saliva rapidly getting him sopping wet. Much as he loved it, another form of wetness was forefront in his mind. “Sit on my cock. I want to see you ride me.”